I have just learned (from one of his children) that Hal Eaton, one of our oldest members, passed away July 15, 2017. His wife of 70 years, Marge, passed away two days earlier. My wife Gayle and I rented their guest room, for the standard fee of $0.35/night, and had supper at their home, when we were touring the Blue Ridge Parkway, in October 2010. Lovely people. I have a picture of that occasion, but I forget how to use Photobucket.

Let me pay a bit of tribute to my friend, Hal Eaton. Hal and I served some 12 miles apart in Southwest Virginia. He combined the roles of being Chaplain of Oak Hill Academy and Pastor of Young's Chapel Baptist Church, the campus church for the boarding high school. Hal had previously retired from service as a US Navy Chaplain. He and Marge were great people who loved young people, fought for moderate Baptist causes, and cared for his fellow pastors. While he could have gone most anywhere in the larger churches of Baptist life with his credentials, Hal and Marge chose to invest in troubled young people and in a small community few can even find on the map. I am saddened by the loss of my friend, but I would be impoverished had our paths not crossed.

"God will never be less than He is and does not need to be more" (John Koessler)

Like Chris, I had the opportunity to spend the night in Hal's guest room. In fact, I had the opportunity to spend the night in the guest room on two separate occasions. Once in October of 2006 and once in August of 1014. In 2006 I was on my way home from the very first Mainstream Baptist Convocation in Charlotte, NC. On my way back to Oklahoma, I stopped first in Emporia, VA and spent several hours Dave Roberts. I went from Emporia over to Mouth of Wilson and visited with Hal and Marge. While there, I took a self portrait smack dab in the middle of Main Street in Mouth of Wilson VA. Hal and Marge were fantastic hosts. I was blessed beyond measure during both visits to their home.

Hal was indeed a unique person. A special kind of unique. He was quick-witted, had a keen sense of humor and was sharp both theological and philosophically. On my second visit with Hal in 2014, he had just completed and published his book on the Ten Commandments. I offered to purchase a copy but instead, he gave me a copy. I read it through twice and plan to read it again soon. I suspect that several of his BL.Com friends have a copy.(I would be interested in hearing who else has this book)The book is somewhat short (103 pages), but is literally filled with the rich wisdom he expressed when he participated in discussions on BL.Com. While the book is somewhat theological in nature, it is also biographical. As most of you will remember, Hal often had that a different perspective on many of the issues we discussed. In my opinion, there was no one like him. The last chapter of the book is a perfect personal summary of his theological and philosophical thinking. It also perfectly delineates what kind of man he was. I don't think I have ever known a case where a person precisely wrote who and what he was during his lifetime.

By any measure, those two pages are profound. I will always remember and appreciate my friendship with Hal and Marge Eaton.

I go farther back than my 2006 date, when one just clicked on the blue lines under a post to riposte. I used a different ID then but have forgotten it. This means I saw lots of Eaton's remarks. He was pithy and provoking and a pleasure. I love his take on the Ten Cs and admire his ability to be flexible, though I am much more incorrigible, maybe not nearly as nice.